Privacy notice
Wellness Counselling and Psychotherapy (“I”, “me”, “my”) is the data controller for any personal information you share with me. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and bound by the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.
This page explains what information I collect, why I hold it, how long I keep it, and the rights you have over it.
Data protection & GDPR
What I collect
- Your name, contact details and (where given) GP details.
- Brief intake information about what brings you to therapy.
- Concise, factual session notes (date, themes, agreed actions) — not verbatim records.
- Payment references (no card details are stored by me).
Lawful basis
I process this information under contract (to provide the therapy you have agreed to), legitimate interests (safe and accountable record-keeping), and, for any sensitive health information, your explicit consent given at intake.
How it’s stored
Notes and contact details are kept securely — paper records in a locked cabinet, digital records in password-protected, UK-based encrypted services. I do not sell or share your data for marketing.
How long it’s kept
Records are retained for the period required by my professional insurer and the BACP (typically seven years after our last session), then securely destroyed.
Confidentiality
What you share in our sessions is confidential. I discuss my work in regular clinical supervision, as required by the BACP, but you are never identified by name.
Confidentiality may be broken only in rare circumstances:
- If there is a serious risk of harm to you or another person.
- Where a court of law orders disclosure.
- In matters involving child protection, vulnerable adults, acts of terrorism, drug trafficking or money laundering, where I am legally required to disclose.
Wherever possible, I will discuss this with you first.
Your rights under UK GDPR
- To be informed about how your data is used (this page).
- To request a copy of the information I hold about you.
- To ask for inaccurate information to be corrected.
- To request erasure, subject to my professional record-keeping obligations.
- To restrict or object to certain processing.
- To withdraw consent at any time.
Requests should be emailed to miriam@wellnesscp.co.uk. I will respond within 30 days.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital support tools
Some clients choose to use AI-based apps or chat tools that offer emotional support or therapy-like conversations. These are separate from, and not part of, the counselling I provide.
AI tools do not know you as a person over time, do not hold a duty of care, and cannot reliably recognise risk or crisis.
They may sound confident even when they are inaccurate. Anything you share with them may be stored or used in ways that fall outside our confidentiality and my control.
I retain full professional responsibility for the care I provide. My decisions are made through professional judgement and ethical training, and are not handed to AI systems.
If you use AI tools for personal support, you are warmly encouraged to bring this into our work, so we can reflect together on how it may be affecting you. This is an invitation, never a judgement.
Complaints procedure
I am committed to providing safe, ethical therapy. If something about our work together has not felt right, I would encourage you to raise it with me first — I will listen, take it seriously, and try to put things right.
Any complaint will be acknowledged within 30 days of receipt. I will then, without undue delay, take appropriate steps to investigate the matter, keep you informed of progress, and tell you of the outcome.
You can reach me by email at miriam@wellnesscp.co.uk or by phone at 07376 160301.
Contact
For any question about this page, your data, or to make a request under UK GDPR:
- Email: miriam@wellnesscp.co.uk
- Phone: 07376 160301
- Information Commissioner’s Office — ico.org.uk
See also the short privacy summary.